Monroe couple charged in alleged extortion plot await hearing

The Monroe couple charged with engaging in a bizarre scheme to intimidate and extort money from a developmentally disabled man remain in jail awaiting a bail hearing.

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By Hema Easley

recordonline.com

By Hema Easley

Posted Aug. 9, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Hema Easley
Posted Aug. 9, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

The Monroe couple charged with engaging in a bizarre scheme to intimidate and extort money from a developmentally disabled man remain in jail awaiting a bail hearing.

An attorney for Nicole Naudy, 27, declined to comment on the case. The federal defender representing John Naudy, 28, couldn't be reached for comment. It wasn't clear where the couple was being held.

According to the Justice Department, no bail hearing has been requested.

If and when the couple does come up for a hearing, they may have difficulty making bail. The Naudys filed for bankruptcy in February, as did Nicole Naudy's mother, in whose Orion Avenue home they live. Nicole Naudy's brother, who also lives in the family home, filed for bankruptcy in 2011.

Monica Naudy, the mother, filed just months after Wells Fargo, which holds the mortgage for the home, began foreclosure proceedings in 2013. The bankruptcy put a halt to the foreclosure.

According to documents filed in New York's Southern District Bankruptcy Court, Nicole Naudy is a housewife, and John Naudy makes $3,437 a month after taxes. John Naudy started work at Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center only a month before filing for bankruptcy. He stated in bankruptcy filings that he had no income in the last four months of 2013, when he was a student.

Court records indicate four of the cars they owned were repossessed, and they owed thousands of dollars in medical, tuition and cell phone bills.

The couple's alleged scheme to extort money from the developmentally disabled man they had befriended appeared to coincide with the family's falling fortunes.

They began demanding and receiving money from the 26-year-old victim in February 2013, according to a complaint filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in federal court in White Plains. Over a period of 18 months, they extracted $60,000 from the victim, the complaint said.

John Naudy, who also goes by "Jay" and John Hill, and his wife have been charged with one felony count each of the use of an interstate facility, the telephone, to harass or intimidate. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.